Server Sky - Internet and Computation in Orbit
DC L5, June 30, 2013
- Tysons-Pimmit Library, 7584 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA
- 2:15 - 4:45 pm
Server sky is a proposal to build large arrays of 5 gram paper-thin solar-powered computer satellites in 6400km earth orbit. Arrays act as large parallel computers and phased array antennas, transmitting thousands of communication beams simultaneously to low cost ground receivers and other arrays in space.
U.S. data centers consume 10GW of electricity to produce microwatt signals delivered to customers. Converting space solar power into computation and sending the only results eliminates most of the cost and mass of SBSP, as well as the expense and inefficiencies of data centers and fiber optic infrastructure. Server sky can provide high reliability broadband internet to developing nations with much lower economic and environmental cost.
Keith Lofstrom (http://www.keithl.com/) is an integrated circuit designer in Beaverton, Oregon. He is CEO of SiidTech, which licenses silicon identification technology. He is active in the open source community, and has a special interest in low power, high efficiency computing.
Keith has written for Kluwer Press, various IEEE journals, SysAdmin magazine, Liberty magazine, aerospace journals, and Analog.